The first hearing has opened for the extradition of 9 former Italian terrorists sentenced for attacks committed between the 70s and 80s. The hearing is the first step in a process that could last two or three years. Seven were arrested at their homes in France on Wednesday, and two others surrendered to the police the next day. They were interrogated and then released on probation.
Their arrest last week was seen as an important move in resolving the political and judicial dispute between Rome and Paris that has been going on for some time. The police are still looking for another former terrorist, Maurizio Di Marzio. The Paris court will have to decide whether to approve the extradition of each of the nine arrested. Upon arrival at the courthouse, Giorgio Pietrostefani refused to comment and answer questions from journalists, including Italians, who asked him.
Only a few supporters of the former Italian terrorists have already arrived in front of the courtroom to show solidarity with the 9 arrested, who will appear before the Chambre de l’Instruction of the Court of Appeal. The hearing was postponed to 6 pm, later than the scheduled time of 2 pm, because the agenda of the hearings included other cases of extradition requests before that of the former terrorists. As expressly requested by Marina Petrella, a former Brigadier sentenced to life imprisonment, on behalf of the other arrested, it was decided to avoid any demonstration, display of banners, songs or slogans. The supporters, who have been gathering for some days around Marina Petrella and other convicts in Italy at risk of extradition, are flocking to the square in front of the courthouse for a “silent presence”.
«I read in a French weekly that no one follows us here anymore – said Petrella – instead you can see that we have support. The tension is there, it must be said that it also keeps us a bit on the adrenaline of the last 2 years. But I have nothing to hide ». Pants, coat, white hair cut short and a Roman accent that shows he has never abandoned, he greets everyone with a smile, even if the tension shines through his gestures. Ready for another long battle over extraditions is also Iréne Terrel, the lawyer who linked her name to these battles that began in the Eighties: “In the end – she confides – I would like them to tell me” enough, now it’s over “. I would like to have to start everything again every 10 years, these returns to the past begin to become surreal, a caricature. And I am forced to indict the same issues “.
The former Brigadier Sergio Tornaghi is the first to pass in front of the Chambre de l ‘Instruction in Paris. The court began by reading to Tornaghi, sentenced to life imprisonment, the requests of Italy and the sentences suffered. There was a bit of tension, however, outside the classroom when Roberta Cappelli ha Cappelli reacted harshly by apostrophizing in Roman dialect a correspondent for the show “Le Iene” who had approached her, making him retreat.